During the course of the summer, the Brentwood High School offers two programs for music. The first summer music program is called the Four Week Summer Music Program, and begins on the last week of June and goes three weeks into July, ending with a concert. The program costs $50, which covers breakfast and lunch for students every day for the full four weeks. As an added bonus, students are given an instrument if they don’t have one of their own. The program takes place in the DiPietro Center for Orchestra and Band students, and in the Ross auditorium for Musical Theater.

The program is geared towards students entering 7th grade or higher. There are three periods during the program, beginning at 8:30 a.m. and ending at 12 p.m. The 1st and 2nd periods are for the older kids in orchestra, jazz band, and regular band. The 3rd period is for beginners, which is why it’s the longest period. The only class that goes through all three periods is Green Machine and musical theater/chorus.

The orchestra is run by the orchestra teachers from West Middle school, North Middle school, and East Middle school. The band is run by the Freshman Center band teacher, jazz band is run by the High School band teacher, and Green Machine is also run by the high school band teacher. Chorus and musical theater is run by the Freshman Center choir teacher.

The other music program that occurs during the summer months is the Five Day Music program, which begins at 9 a.m. and ends at 4 p.m. Orchestra, Green Machine, and musical theater students in grades 9 and above are eligible for this program. The cost is $10 and students are provided with an instrument, breakfast, lunch, and ice cream every other day.

This year, the Green Machine went away to a camp in Pennsylvania for their 5 day camp, while the musical theater and orchestra students stayed in Brentwood. Because of the smaller amount of children that attended this year, the orchestra and musical theater students were able to go see a musical called Newsies up in Northport at the John W. Engeman Theatre. Students had a picnic by the water before the show. Everyone who went received matching Brentwood Newsies shirts.

The summer music programs at Brentwood offer the opportunity for students to make friends, continue to practice their instruments of choice, and experience many different forms of art. Consider joining one next summer!